Colour printing comes to POD - New opportunity for small colour editions.
Time was when washing power was what one used to wash clothes. Liquid
detergents could not be found. Boxes of powder was all there was - Conspiracy
theorists explained this absence on the significant investment required to turn liquid petrochemicals into a powder. You needed
deep pockets to set up as a producer of washing powder.
Colour printing presented a similar hurdle for publishers. Any book
required a major commitment of funds. A lot of paper had to run through the
machines before the four images were perfectly registered.
So very long print-runs were a necessity if unit cost were to be kept down.
Because of the print-runs undertaken for traditional, colour
books, their unit costs were remarkably low. And because of many over-optimistic print-runs, the shelves of the remainder bookshops would be much less colourful and
also very short of stock.
It was not easy for print-on-demand to match the price or technical
challenge. But advances in paper and in laser printing technology have now made
it possible for POD to compete.
Print on demand can, of course, render images accurately, but the glossy or
polished papers used for litho printing still have the edge on the matt finish
of the POD process. But modern paper can have a near gloss and lasers can cope
with the throughput to make it economic.
However, not every coloured book has to be about furry animals, food,
landscapes or art. Volume dictated what was produced as a colour book. Print
on demand challenges this rule as it is now possible to publish books that will
sell in the tens or hundreds rather than the tens of thousands that traditional
colour printing demanded.
Using WritersPrintShop, colour-printed books can have as few as 4 and as many as 480
pages. For books with less than 48 pages, they are saddle stitched making
them robust enough to survive handling in the nursery.
Two trim sizes are available - 216x216 and 280x216. The normal, small
paperback for comparison is 203x127.
The costs of printing
are higher (twice the page cost) but this is offset because most colour books are slimmer volumes.
If you are planning to use colour, use it on every page because you will be
paying for it. (It is possible to insert colour plates into books but it does
not work using the POD system).
Colour opens up opportunities and challenges for writers.
